RECORD
WARMTH IN WESTERN U.S. IN JULY, DROUGHT SEVERITY WORSENED,
GLOBAL TEMPERATURE 7th WARMEST FOR JULY

August
15, 2007 —July
2007 brought record and near-record warmth to the western United States,
while much of the eastern and southern U.S. experienced cooler-than-average
temperatures, according to scientists at NOAA’s
National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. Below-average rainfall,
combined with scorching temperatures, helped put 46 percent of the contiguous
U.S. in some stage of drought by the end of July. The global average
temperature was the seventh warmest on record for July, and the presence
of cooler-than-average waters in the central and eastern equatorial
Pacific reflected the possible development of a La Niña episode.
(Click NOAA image for larger view of July 2007 statewide temperature
rankings. Please credit “NOAA.”)

U.S.
Temperature Highlights

For
the contiguous United States, July 2007 was the 15th warmest July
since records began in 1895. The monthly mean temperature was 1.4
degrees F (0.8 degrees C) above the 20th century average of 74.3 degrees
F (23.5 degrees C).

Twenty
states from the eastern seaboard to the Midwest and southern Plains
were cooler than average for the month. Florida was the only state
warmer-than-average east of the Mississippi.

The
persistent atmospheric pattern that brought cooler-than-average temperatures
to the East contributed to record and near-record warmth in the West.
It was the warmest July on record in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. Boise,
Idaho’s average high temperature of 98.6 degrees F (37 degrees
C) was more than 9 degrees F (5 degrees C) above average, and made
July 2007 its warmest month ever.

There
were 11 days of triple digit temperatures in Missoula, Mont., almost
double the previous record of 6 days for the month.

The
cooler-than-average July temperatures in the heavily populated eastern
U.S. helped push down residential energy needs for the nation as a
whole. Using the Residential Energy Demand Temperature Index (REDTI
- an index developed at NOAA to relate energy usage to climate), the
nation's residential energy demand was approximately 4 percentlower
than what would have occurred under average climate conditions for
the month.

U.S.
Precipitation Highlights

The
record warmth and drier-than-average conditions in the northern Rockies
led to rapidly worsening drought conditions and helped give the western
wildfire season an early and extremely active start. By early August
more than 5 million acres had burned in the contiguous U.S, according
to the National Interagency Fire Center. (Click NOAA image
for larger view of January-July 2007 statewide temperature rankings.
Please credit “NOAA.”)

Drought
conditions worsened in parts of the northern Rockies, northern Plains,
Midwest, and mid-Atlantic. At the end of July, 46 percent of the contiguous
U.S. was in moderate-to-exceptional drought, an increase of 12 percent
since June. Eighty percent of the Southeast was in drought, with the
most severe drought in the nation concentrated in the northern half
of Alabama.

July
precipitation was near average for the contiguous U.S., but there
were sharp contrasts between areas that received above average rainfall
and other areas that were drier than average.

It was
the third wettest July on record in Texas and Louisiana, the second
wettest for the region that includes four neighboring states. The
Northeast was also wetter than average along with six western states:
Wyoming, Utah, Washington, Oregon, Arizona and California.

Drier-than-average
conditions stretched from parts of the mid-Atlantic and Southeast
to the Midwest and northern Plains. Rainfall was also below average
in Montana, Idaho and Nevada.

Rainfall
from the remnants of Hurricane Cosme eased dry conditions on the eastern
end of the Big Island of Hawaii, but moderate-to-severe drought continued
to affect several of the Hawaiian Islands at the end of July.

Global
Highlights

The
combined global land and ocean surface temperature was the seventh
warmest on record for July. (Click NOAA image for larger view
of July 2007 temperature anomalies. Please credit “NOAA.”)

Cooler-than-average
ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific
reflected the possible development of a La Niña episode and
contributed to a global temperature average for July that was lower
than recent years.

Although
above average temperatures covered most of the world’s land
surfaces during July, monthly temperatures were cooler than average
in some countries. In much of Argentina, temperatures were more than
5 degrees F (3 degrees C) cooler than average for July, and Buenos
Aires had its first major snowfall since 1918.

NOAA is
celebrating 200 years
of science and service to the nation in 2007. From the establishment
of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation
of the Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries in the
1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety
through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events
and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing
environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources.
Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS),
NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70 countries and
the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that
is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.
Complete information, including links to data, graphics and analysis:
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2007/jul/jul07.html.